The Wizard Of Oz (Classics Illustrated Junior)
This version of The Wizard Of Oz is a relatively faithful comic book adaptation of L. Frank Baum's original novel that includes drawings which resemble the character designs used in the MGM film. About it After a full page illustration of the friends seeing the emerald city in the distance, the story begins with the tornado approaching the Kansas farm. Dorothy's attempt to catch Toto from her bed has her caught and taken by the tornado to Oz, and there is no witch under Dorothy's house when it lands! She is greeted by three little old blue men and a short old white woman who, not having heard of Kansas, tell Dorothy to go to the emerald city and suggest she go see the wizard. Then all the munchkins and the good witch of the north vanish. The story goes through pretty quickly: Dorothy meets the scarecrow, the tin woodman, and the lion. Journeying down the yellow brick road, the scarecrow bids good-day to Dorothy and is taken off his pole before asking to get some brains. Together they meet and rescue the tin woodman who hopes Oz can give him a heart, before a lion charges onto the road and attacks them until Dorothy slaps his oversized nose. Admitting his shame, he is invited to come along to see the wizard. But then the tin woodman steps on an insect and rusts his jaw until scarecrow oils him free again. The lion carries his friends on his back as they cross a ditch dividing their path, before the scarecrow thinks to have a tree chopped down to cross another ditch that is too wide for the lion to jump across. At last they see a distant green glow and reach the emerald city, where the guardian of the gates, who looks a bit like Elmer Fudd with a bit more weight loss, gives them green spectacles to wear before guiding them through the streets. Outside the palace, a soldier with a long green beard passes on their message and allows them in, as all four meet the wizard who is a man on a throne in his throne room without any humbug effects of giant heads, lovely winged ladies, terrible beasts or fireballs. The old man listens to their requests but will only grant them if they destroy the one wicked witch of the west. Returning the green spectacles, the gate guardian is asked how to find the witch. Since there is no road as he says, she will make them her slaves soon as they enter her country by walking west where the sun sets. The wicked witch is outside and sees them in the distance with BOTH her eyes having telescope vision, so she cries out "Ziz-zy, Zuz-zy, Zik!" to summon the winged monkeys and orders them to bring the strangers to her, which they do, since there is no fight or struggle, because they probably don't want to hurt the cute little creatures. The witch merely captures Dorothy's friends and demands that they be thrown into prison but leads Dorothy and Toto to the kitchen where she orders to have the kitchen attended to. Toto attempts to bite her, the witch intends to strike him but Dorothy throws a bucket of water at the witch and melts her, leaving nothing but her key and her silver shoes. Taking both of these, Dorothy frees her friends and they return to the wizard. Back in the throne room, with green spectacles again, Oz tells them that they've always had what they've wanted - and even points out when they proved it - but at the scarecrow's plea he does give them physical representations of these: brains in scarecrow's head, a heart pinned on the tin woodman, and the lion drinks "courage." Dorothy is happy that her friends have what they want and the wizard tells her that the witch's silver shoes have wonderful powers that she can command. Farewells exchanged, Dorothy closes her eyes and wishes to go home, without three heel clicks, and is reunited with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, as the silver shoes disappear. Trivia The comic also featured an extra story of an adaptation of Aesop's fable of "The Fox And The Lion", where the lion looks very much like the Oz lion, in which a fox learns how not to be scared of something by getting used to it, a page to "Old Mother Hubbard", a one-page factual article about koala bears called "The Animal World: The Koala", and ends with the end flap having a full-page Oz coloring page illustration of the friends with the cowardly lion to color with crayons.Category:The Wizard Of Oz